With You
by UbiquitousOranges
Summary: Life as a Nobody can be hard. Good thing Roxas and Axel have each other. [AkuRoku, implied RikuSora, rating & AU warning for future chapters.]
1. Dance

OK guys... here we go. My first attempt at a multi-chapter fic. OwO Let's see how this turns out...

Inspired (in fact, the other morning) when my cousin mentioned an obscure 80's dance hit and Axel in the same paragraph. And then I listened to some Bobby Darin. XD

EDIT: Fixed a minor issue so that Chapter 2 will make sense. :D

Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me, they're Squeenix/Disney property, I do this for _free_. If I wrote the game, there would be a lot more AkuRoku. Not that there wasn't a lot already. XD

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chapter o1. dance

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Roxas padded silently down the hall. It was dark and cold - the castle always seemed to be cold, year in, year out. He had thrown his black Organization robe on over his pajamas, but it was doing little to keep him warm.

Roxas' destination was denoted by a door, friendly yellow light seeping out from under it. He knocked quietly, and waited while the person inside walked over and opened the door a crack. Spiky red hair, a green eye, and a blue, diamond-shaped tatoo showed through the gap. When Axel saw that it was Roxas outside, he pulled the door open the rest of the way and brought him inside. The redhead was wearing jeans and a black shirt with some sort of abstract design on it. "Another bad dream, huh?"

"Yeah," Roxas said, looking around at the room almost as familiar as his own. Axel had a tendency to decorate in reds and oranges - bright, vital, fiery colors, that matched his powers as well as his... volatile personality. The light was off, but a lamp on the nightstand was on (as was the bathroom light), making it just comfortably dim. The walls were painted a cinnamon color, and the sheets were orange under a dark red bedspread. A bookshelf stood in one corner, stuffed with magazines - skiing, skating, surfing... Roxas had a feeling that Axel had never done any of the things his magazines talked about, at least not in his current life. Various items of clothing were scattered on the floor, and a pair of chakrams leaned in one corner. A table against the wall near the door held Axel's stereo, a laptop (they all had them, as Organization members), and a wooden statue of – as Roxas thought of it – a New Years' dragon. He patted it on the head.

"So... what was it this time?"

"Drowning in darkness. Same as last time, and the time before that..." Roxas rubbed his eyes tiredly.

Axel came up behind the little blond and put his arms around him. "'S alright," he said softly. "You can stay here for as long as you need to. Any time. Got that memorized?" He kissed him gently on the top of the head. Roxas leaned back against him, slowly relaxing.

"Hey... What were you doing up at two in the morning?" Roxas asked, after a while.

"Hm?" Axel said, absently rubbing Roxas' shoulders. "Oh. Demyx made a CD. I was listening to it."

"Is it any good?" asked Roxas, as close to "curious" as a Nobody could get.

"Yeah, actually. It's all sitar instrumentals, of course, but I guess he figured out how to get drum tracks in there and some of the remixed ones are pretty awesome. You wanna hear it?" Roxas nodded, and stood up straight, letting Axel get a Walkman off the bed. He flipped the headphones so that both earpieces were facing out, then, sitting down on the bed (Roxas sat down next to him), put one to his left ear and the other to Roxas' right ear.

Roxas had to admit, Demyx knew what he was doing with a sitar. They listened to one hard-rock song all the way through before Axel jumped up. "Let's dance," he said.

"What?"

"Come on," he said, turning the headphones right-side-out and flipping the Walkman open. Roxas caught a glimpse of "Awesome Songs By Demyx!" (written on the disc in permanent marker) before Axel put it in the stereo. A dance beat started, and Axel pulled Roxas to his feet and started moving to the music. "C'mon, Roxas," he said. "Loosen up a little!"

"No. I'd look ridiculous."

"Are you saying I look ridiculous?"

"No! Just – Augh!"

Axel had grabbed him by the hand and started dancing along with him. "See, isn't this fun?"

"Oh, fine..."

It was half an hour later that the CD wound down. Axel and Roxas collapsed on the bed, Axel laughing, Roxas actually smiling. Axel reached for Roxas' hand and ran his thumb over each knuckle. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," said Roxas.

"What did I tell you." Axel smirked, that self-satisfied look that he wore so often around Roxas.

"You didn't."

"Beside the point. It worked."

The CD player clicked over to the next disk. A band started up and a smooth male voice began singing.

_"Somewhere, beyond the sea... _

_Somewhere, waiting for me..."_

Axel got up again, offering Roxas his hand. Roxas took it, looking into smiling green eyes. They started to dance again, slow this time, Axel leading him in the foxtrot or something. (It wasn't Roxas' field of expertise.)

_"My lover stands on golden sands_

_And watches the ships _

_That go sailing..." _

"I didn't know you liked this kind of music," said Roxas. "Didn't know you could dance like this, either."

"Yeah, I listen to everything. I didn't know about the dancing, either, though," Axel replied. "Must have been from... before."

"Yeah," Roxas said, and then he was quiet, enjoying the feel of Axel's warm, solid presence under his hands. He was skinny, sure, but in a wiry way - Roxas could feel the firm muscles of his shoulder. It was... nice, just being together in a way that they usually didn't have time for.

The song ended, and Axel pulled Roxas in close to him for a kiss. "Fun, huh?" he asked.

"Mm-hm." Roxas traced the blue diamonds under Axel's eyes with a finger. "Never would have guessed that dancing and facial tattoos went together."

Axel chuckled. "Learn something new every day."

A pause. "Hey Axel... would you mind if I stayed here tonight?"

"Not at all. Let me find you another blanket..."

"Um. If you don't mind... could I sleep in your bed?"

Axel thought he would have to be some sort of idiot to turn down that kind of request.

"Yeah, no problem," he said, as nonchalantly as possible. "I've got an extra pillow here somewhere."


	2. Dreams

Alright! Chapter 2! Aren't we EXCITED. It's only… 5 months late. It's also short. Chapter 3 is about twice as long, and should be up by tomorrow.

Disclaimer: Characters, locales, and cheesecake don't belong to me. I only got one slice.

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chapter o2. dreams

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For the first time in a week, Roxas' dream was different.

At first there was only a sort of grey, misty nothingness. Slowly, it swirled and parted, to show him fine white sand under his feet. Looking down, he caught a glimpse of his hands - they didn't seem quite right. His clothes weren't right, either. He didn't have time to consider this, though; the fog was thinning and disappearing.

The white sand spread to his left and right, curving away from an expanse of bright-blue ocean. There was a solid-looking wooden bridge in front of him. Something - or someone - very important waited for him at the end of that bridge.

He took a step.

Heartless - Shadows - sprung up around him. They crawled over the bridge, flattened themselves to the ground and swarmed underfoot, crowded up against him.

Without any conscious effort, a Keyblade - only one - appeared in his hand. He fought, his movements seeming strangely slowed.

The Heartless gave way in front of him and he moved across the bridge.

Suddenly, he was there. The Heartless were nowhere to be seen.

He stood on a tiny island, surrounded by slender palm trees. A larger palm tree, its trunk bent almost parallel to the ground, occupied most of his attention. Someone - the _important_ someone, Roxas knew - was sitting on the tree, facing the water. His hair was silver.

Roxas started forward, knowing that he had to talk to him.

He turned. Instead of the familiar/unfamiliar face he had been expecting, Roxas saw the Superior's orange-yellow eyes and cold smile.

He woke up.

With the momentary disorientation that comes with waking up somewhere other than your own bed, he silently panicked for a moment.

Axel rolled over next to him, muttering something vaguely, and Roxas relaxed. He scooted closer to Axel's warmth, and went back to sleep.

Axel's dreams took a strange turn.

He had been in a bakery, choosing which dessert to order (the strawberry crepe and the cheesecake both looked good) when Roxas walked in.

"You have to decide," he said, putting his hand on his hip and looking up at Axel through his bangs.

"Cheesecake," Axel replied earnestly.

He suddenly noticed that the pastry chef behind the counter looked really familiar. His hair went down, instead of up, and it was auburn, rather than fire-engine red, and the tattoos were a paler shade of blue…

"Hiya," said Axel's Other.

"Him or me," Roxas said.

"Cheesecake," Axel said despairingly, and woke up.

Roxas' head rested on his shoulder. The blankets were all on Axel's side of the bed. He moved them over to cover Roxas, who only snuggled closer. A word came bubbling up through Axel's mind - had to do with plants in cold places…

"Thermotropic," Axel muttered, and went back to sleep.


	3. Morning

Chapter 3, in which breakfast is eaten. Writing Nobodies is harder than I expected.

FYI, the song Demyx is singing is "My Sitar," by Dr. Bombay.

Disclaimer: Story's mine, characters aren't.

Lol ellipses.

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chapter o3. morning

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Admittedly, waking up was a little awkward.

"Hey," said Roxas.

"Hey," said Axel.

"Did we…?"

"No. At least, if you're asking what I think…"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Okay."

"…"

"…"

"So… you want the shower first?"

OOO

The castle was perfectly silent.

"I think we're up before everyone else," Axel said. "You know what that means?"

"What?"

"Dibs on the microwave!"

And so, in under ten minutes, Axel and Roxas were sitting companionably at one end of a long, white table in a long, white room, eating Ham & Cheese Hot Pockets. Funny thing about the Organization - missions to every known world, and you could bring back whatever you wanted, no questions asked. Roxas had a checkered wristband and a skateboard that he never used. Axel had ten gallons of custom-mixed red latex paint and Hot Pockets.

They had finished eating, and Roxas was trying to fall asleep leaned against Axel's shoulder, by the time the next Organization member appeared.

"Hey, Xig," Axel said. Xigbar was the only one of the original six - Xemnas, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, and Xigbar himself - that Axel really got along with.

Xigbar nodded in acknowledgement, and stalked into the kitchen to get his coffee.

When he came back, he was more like his usual, easygoing self.

"Hey, guys," he said, sitting down to Axel's left with a mug of black coffee and a bagel.

Next was Larxene. Apparently, she had teleported into the kitchen; she came out with an enormous omelet and sat down near the far end of the table without saying a word.

"Good morning to you too, Larxene," Axel said under his breath. Xigbar chuckled.

Luxord came downstairs. "Odds on who's up next," he said.

"No takers," said Axel. "You've probably got wires dropped on all their alarm clocks."

Luxord's smile was somehow unsettling - he seemed to have too many teeth. "My, my, my," he said, shaking his head as he entered the kitchen. "So untrusting." He returned with a muffin and a glass of orange juice, and sat down to the left of Xigbar.

The next Nobody could be heard before he was seen.

"I like my sitar, I like my sitar, I play the sitar, sitar, wherever I go, whoah-oh-oh…"

Axel closed his eyes and shook, trying not to laugh out loud. Roxas even smiled.

The voice stopped singing and composed itself. A moment later, Demyx walked decorously through the dining room. His fingers were still tapping out a beat, seemingly without his knowledge.

"Hey," Axel said.

"Why hello, Axel." Demyx proceeded to the kitchen, coming out with half a pizza wrapped in aluminum foil. "And hello to you too, Roxas," he said, sitting down next to him and attempting to leer evilly.

"Stop trying, Demyx. You're not very good at it." Axel put his arm around Roxas. "For one thing, he's taken. For another, you're not any older than him, so the 'creepy pedo' rules don't apply. Plus, you looked kind of stupid. Have I taught you nothing?" He shook his head in mock dismay.

"Oh well," Demyx said, unwrapping his pizza. Axel leaned over Roxas and took a slice.

"Eurgh," he said, and put it back.

"What?" Demyx and Roxas asked together.

"Mushrooms and anchovies," he said, shuddering.

Demyx shrugged, and took a huge bite.

Axel tapped on Roxas' shoulder. Reluctantly, he sat up. Axel went into the kitchen.

"So, Roxas, how's it goin'?"

"Alright, I guess."

"So, I heard from Zexion, who heard from Vexen, who heard from Saïx, that Xemnas has a mission for us."

"Today?"

"Yeah. Heard that most of us are going to Hollow Bastion."

"Really? I've never been there before-"

Pain shot through Roxas' skull, accompanied by an image -

_The lift stop, a complex web of light-strands traced in the air… A library full of books… Shadows swarming down a sweeping staircase…_

"-At least not that I remember," he amended.

"It's kind of grim, at least the part that I was in," Demyx said. "All grey stone. I dunno. You might like it."

Roxas nodded absently, thinking.

Axel returned with a plateful of waffles and mashed potatoes.

"Um-" Roxas said, eyeing the plate warily.

"Don't worry, I'll eat them separate," Axel said.

"Good." Roxas had been permanently scarred when Axel constructed and consumed a cheese-pickle-onion-chicken-potato sandwich, washed down with a bowl of ice cream and ketchup.

"You're seriously going to eat all that?" Demyx asked wonderingly, staring at the six-waffle stack. "And you had a problem with anchovies?"

"Yep," Axel said around his first bite. He swallowed.

Vexen came down the stairs and went for the coffee.

"Never fear," Axel said, winking at Roxas. "I'll keep my slim girlish figure." Roxas rolled his eyes.

Vexen sat down across from Roxas, nodding by way of greeting.

Zexion was down next. He sniffed at the air. "Saïx is in the kitchen," he informed them, and sat down across from Demyx.

Sure enough, Saïx emerged a few minutes later, carrying a plateful of extremely rare steak. He sat at the far end of the table, next to Luxord.

Most of the Organization members avoided teleporting inside as much as possible; an unfocused mind could land you halfway through a wall. Saïx and Larxene, however, didn't seem to care. Either that, or they were showing off.

Xaldin came in, got toast and eggs, and sat down next to Vexen.

Zexion made a face. "Marluxia," he said. "I asked him not to use that… vile stuff in the castle."

Before long, Marluxia came in. A delicate floral scent accompanied him. He took his seat across from Saïx. Larxene leaned over to tell him something, and his strangely hollow laughter floated down the table.

Axel smirked. "Not in a bad mood today, are we, Zexion?"

Zexion glared up at Axel.

Roxas resisted the urge to elbow Axel in the ribs. He couldn't seem to resist baiting Zexion whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Lexaeus came through the door, got his coffee, and took a seat between Larxene and Xaldin.

Finally, with perfect timing, Xemnas appeared, stepping through a "corridor to darkness" and into his place at the head of the table.

"Well then… Shall we begin?"


End file.
